Falling Upward
by Penguin.is.my.name
Summary: When Carlisle finds Miranda, half frozen and on the run from the souls that have invaded the Earth, life for him, the Cullens, and Miranda will change yet again. But will Miranda's strained relationship with the Cullens stand in the way of their attempts to help her? Or will they only succeed in uncovering Miranda's most painful memories about her past?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This is a crossover between ****The Host**** and ****Twilight****, but right now, I'm not sure if any of the characters from ****The Host**** are actually going to be in it. For now at least, I'm basically using the idea from ****The Host**** (aliens invade the world and take over our bodies and all remaining humans have to run in order to survive) and using the characters from ****Twilight**** and a few original characters. Maybe later I'll start to introduce some of the characters from ****The Host**** – review and tell me what you think.**

Chapter 1 Miranda's POV

I am cold.

It shouldn't matter, but for some reason, it does. I lost track of how long I've been sitting here in the woods. Three hours? Four? I can't go to a hospital. If I did, they would know I'm human right away. I would become a host.

After another hour or so, I start to consider it. I was going to die anyway. Why not let a soul have my body? I got up and found myself looking into someone's golden eyes.

**Okay I just realized that my note was longer than the actual chapter. I promise that the next chapters will be longer! Usually whenever something really, really important happens, I cut the chapter(s) short because (a) I keep wanting to switch back and forth between characters (I really hate writing from just one POV – I feel like I only can tell half of the story that way,) (b) because I'm being mean and want to keep my readers in suspense, or (c) a little of both (in this case, It's c.) Anyway, this is getting insanely long, and I'm sure you're dying to read the next chapter. Or maybe you don't and I'm just being narcissistic. Either, way, bye-bye until Chapter 2!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Carlisle's POV

I often walk through the woods at night, wishing I could work at the hospital again. In the past year, my life has changed dramatically. Before the souls took over, I could appear to be human and go to work saving lives. But now, appearing human would only give me – and my family – away. As soon as they tried to perform the operation that would turn me into one of them, they would know.

I was trying to think of ways that I could get back to work at the hospital when I heard a sound. Someone was shivering. Confused, I look around. None of the souls ever wandered off the marked trails. Then I saw her. Half frozen and curled up at the base of a tree was a girl. She tried to stand up, and I saw her eyes.

This girl was human. Even though it was well past midnight and heavy clouds veiled the moon, I could tell that there was nothing behind them. No soul. Just her.

"You're human?" she asked, her voice soft. She was weak.

"Not exactly. But I'm not a soul, either." She looked at me, confused, but didn't seem to have the energy to form a response. "I'm going to help you." She nodded, but didn't say anything. When I picked her up, I was shocked at how cold - and how thin – she was. She probably couldn't even tell how cold my skin was, if she could feel anything. Her eyes closed when we got back to the house, and I realized that I wasn't going to be able to save her and keep her human.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, and bit her.

**Blah. This chapter is shorter than I planned. I really do try to write longer chapters. There isn't all that much dialogue in this chapter, though, so maybe once the characters start talking, I can write more than, um, half a page. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Miranda

As the fire spread through me, I wondered why he had said that he would help me. I don't know how long I burned for, but the entire time, I didn't scream. Whoever he was, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. I remained silent until the fire faded from my fingertips, then my toes, and it kept fading until it was gone entirely.

When I opened my eyes, I was amazed at what I saw. I was not dead but a much more beautiful version of myself. A ceiling was far above my head, and I realized that I was lying down on a couch. When I sat up – much faster than I had ever moved before – I saw him. The man who had taken me from the forest. I cringed against the back of the couch.

"I am extremely sorry, and I don't blame you for being afraid of me," he said.

"What happened? You said you were going to help me. Why was I burning?"

"I'm sorry," he said again. "You're going to have to let me explain a little more for this to make sense, but it was the only way to save you." He paused, waiting for a reaction from me, I guess. When I said nothing, he continued. "In the forest, you asked me if I was human."

I shuddered at the memory of being crouched on the forest floor, half frozen and hungry. And, of course, what had happened after he found me.

"I'm a vampire. So is my family. And now… so are you."

**Why can I not write more than half a page? This is frustrating. The good part is, I'm (hopefully) posting the first few chapters all at once, because the computer I'm typing these on won't connect to the internet, so I have to put them on a flash drive and it's much easier to just write a handful of chapters and then upload all of them. I say hopefully because this is the first time I've uploaded anything, so I don't really know how it works, and this is getting really confusing because I'm writing this right now and you are reading this in the future – or you are reading this right now and I'm writing this in the past. I guess that depends on your perspective. Anyway, this is my third chapter and I am saying bye-bye for now and hoping that maybe in the future – or in the past, depending on your perspective – I can write a chapter that's longer than my note.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Miranda

It took a second for his words to sink in. "A… vampire?" I squeaked. I had never believed that vampires existed. I still wasn't completely sure that his story was true.

"Yes. I know it's a lot to take in all at once, especially given the circumstances."

"I don't believe you. Vampires aren't real. This is all just a joke. Make the poor little girl in the woods believe she's a mythical creature, sure. Sounds funny. Only not to me."

"Carlisle, what's going on? Miranda, if you don't get your hands off him, I swear, I'll-" I realized that I had the man – Carlisle, I assumed – pinned up against the wall by his throat. I let go of him.

"How do you know my name?"

"Carlisle will explain. And he's not lying. Everything he's told you – everything – is true."

"How. Do. You. Know. My. Name?" I demanded again. He sighed.

"Rosalie, get Renesmee out of here." Turning back to me, she said, "I read your mind. It's a gift I have, and not everybody has it. Let Carlisle explain."

"Read my mind? Yeah right. You know what? Everybody around here is crazy. Every one of you! I'm leaving."

Carlisle put his hand on my shoulder "You can't-"

I shook him off. "Don't even try to stop me. Don't try to tell me that if I go outside the sun's going to kill me. Because there is something seriously wrong with-"

I stopped when I opened the door and the bright morning sun hit my skin. It didn't kill me, exactly like I said. But where the sunlight touched me, my skin exploded into a rainbow of color. Like I was made of diamonds. I turned my hand over and watched myself sparkle. I turned around to see Carlisle and the other person standing behind me.

"Now do you believe us?"

"I… but how…"

"We're vampires." Carlisle said. "You'll get to meet the rest of my family, but you need to hunt first."

Hunt. It dawned on me what, exactly; a vampire's diet consisted of. "No. No! I don't want to kill people! Even if they are those body snatching-"

"Calm down." Carlisle said. "We don't hunt humans. Or, I guess they're all souls, now. Either way, we hunt animals. That's why our eyes are gold, unlike other vampires'."

"Well, it's not like I know what vampires' eyes were supposed to look like," I mumbled.

"No I guess not. Let's go, you must be thirsty.

**Well, I guess this chapter is a little longer than the past ones. Still, it's disappointing that I can't write more at a time without wanting to switch perspectives. Or leave you guys hanging like the evil writer I am. Buh- Bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Carlisle

As we headed deeper into the woods, I could feel Miranda getting nervous, even without Jasper's talent. I realized that we must be getting closer to the place where I found her. Eventually, she just stopped.

"I can't go any farther. The woods… they're not my favorite place."

I walked over to her. "I'm not going to leave you here. And even if I did, you wouldn't be able to freeze like last time."

"It's not just that. Ever since the souls took over, my older sister and I had to run. We barely ever left the woods. The worst was when she would go look for food. She never let me come, in case she didn't come back. That's what I was waiting for when…"

"I'm sorry about your sister." She seemed to just notice that I was there.

"I shouldn't have told you all that." I had no idea what to say. "You and your vampire family can't get caught. You have nothing to lose."

"You're wrong, you know." She looked at me.

"No, I'm not. You said you were going to introduce me to your family. Meaning that you still have them. I can't say that."

"I'm sorry. I can see how that would be insensitive. I'm trying, but this world is as new to me as it is to you."

"Ha," she said, and then we both turned toward the smell of a couple deer that were passing to the left of us.

"Go," I said, and darted off. She followed, and we stopped when we could see of them. There were three of them. I let her have two, because she had to be thirstier than me. After we were both full, I started heading back toward the house.

"Do you still want to meet… the others?" I almost said "my family," but I didn't want to set her off again.

"Of course. If I have to live with you forever, I'm kinda going to want to know who you people are."

Even though I had to force myself to say it, I said, "You don't have to stay if you don't want to. Nobody's going to force you to do anything."

"What, and become a monster who can't restrain herself from hunting people? I don't think so. At least until I can control my thirst, you're not going to get rid of me that easily."

"No, I didn't mean-"

She waved me off "Oh, I know what you meant!"

We ran the rest of the way to the house in silence. When we got there, Esme opened the front door, and all the others, except for Rosalie and Renesmee. Miranda looked like she would be about to cry if it were possible. Alice spoke up. "I told you that meeting us all at once would be too much." Esme backed away from the door.

"I'm sorry. Alice usually is right but…"

"We all wanted to meet that chick who had Carlisle pinned up against the wall earlier," Emmett said. Esme and I both shot him warning looks, but Miranda laughed with him. Still, I could tell that Miranda was overwhelmed by the size of the family, even with two missing.

"This is them?"

"Rosalie and Renesmee aren't here. But aside from them, this is everybody."

"Two more," she said looking around the room. "Can I go back outside for a minute?

**Yay, I actually managed to write more than a page (by a single line)! Anyway, I would write more, but I want to change to Miranda's perspective, so you can see what exactly is going through Miranda's head when she meets the Cullens. I'm not going to give too much away, but it's probably a little different than what you were thinking I'm not saying anything else. You'll have to read the next chapter. Bye-bye until chapter 6!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Miranda

I looked around the room and counted how many vampires there were – I counted 6, not including myself or Carlisle.

"This is them?"

"Rosalie and Renesmee aren't here. But aside from them, this is everybody."

"Two more," I said, doing the math in my head quickly. Carlisle and I made 8. And the two that weren't here made 10. Something about their faces triggered a memory that I didn't want to remember. I'm surprised I didn't notice it with Carlisle, but that might have been because there were so many of them just like when… no, I would not allow myself to remember that day. "Can I go back outside for a minute?"

**Okay, I have no clue why there is a border right there ^^^ But my computer is being a butt and won't let me delete it. So no, this is not where the chapter ends. I'm mean, but not ****that**** mean! Keep reading!**

"Of course," Carlisle said, and followed me back outside. I took gulps of the fresh air, even though Carlisle had explained to me earlier that technically, I didn't have to breathe. Old habits die hard.

"I'm sorry, I just can't-"

"No, I should be sorry. Here you are, having just lost your family, and now I'm showing off mine."

"That's not it." I was getting irritated now. Yes, I had lost my whole family, but that wasn't the only thing I remembered! "When the souls took over, I wasn't in the woods the whole time. For a month or so, my family and I took shelter in… Italy. Volterra." It was the hardest thing I'd done since becoming a vampire, spitting out that name. "The… Volturi… gave my family food and shelter. Of course, ant that time we didn't know what they were, only that they were helping us, and a few of the other human families that they had taken in. One day, they brought all of us into a tower…" I trailed off, the memory being too upsetting to continue. Carlisle looked like he knew what had happened next, anyway.

"You saw all that and still escaped?"

"There was a window. My sister and I jumped out. They thought we were dead, it was such a long fall… we almost were. Seeing such a large group of vampires just brought me right back to that. When you said "your family," I was assuming that you meant just Edward and maybe one other vampire."

"I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"You say sorry a lot. Besides, Edward is the one who can read minds, not you. And even if you could, I didn't think about it until I saw everyone else."

"I'm… Do you want me to send the others out hunting or something? So you can get used to the idea of having so many vampires around?"

"No, I want to meet them. Like I said, I'd rather know who I'm going to be spending eternity with. And I want to meet Rosalie and Renesmee, too."

"We'll have to ask Bella about that. She and Rosalie are very… protective of Renesmee." I rolled my eyes. Why would they be protective of her?

When we went back inside, they were all still in the room, but mostly everyone was sitting down. Only Edward and Bella remained standing, talking to each other. I heard Edward say Renesmee's name, and realized that he must have read my mind while I was outside. Rosalie and Renesmee were still nowhere to be seen.

"Sorry for running out a few minutes ago. I had an… unpleasant experience with the Volturi a while ago, and I guess that seeing so many vampires…" I trailed off. Maybe Edward could finish the thought for me.

"We understand," Esme said, though I knew that she didn't, not really. Maybe Edward understood a little more, if he had heard my thoughts about it, but it was still only the memory, not the actual experience.

"Actually, we had a run in with the Volturi a couple years ago. We really do know what it's like." I shot him a look.

"It doesn't matter whether or not, what matters is that you're comfortable." Esme said. "If you want, you don't have to meet us all at once."

"No, it's okay, really. You don't have the same eyes. I didn't notice that before, all I really noticed was that I was surrounded by vampires."

"Well, as long as you're feeling better, I should introduce you to my…" Carlisle started.

"Oh, go ahead and call them your family!" I nearly shouted. "It's obvious that that's what you are."

"Well, then, this is my wife, Esme, and these are Alice and Jasper, Edward and Bella, and Emmett. Rosalie and Renesmee aren't here right now." They all raised their hands as Carlisle said their names, and it reminded me of when I was in second grade and the teacher would call attendance and we would all raise our hands in turn. I laughed.

"What's so funny?" Emmett asked, obviously thinking that I was laughing at him because Carlisle had called him last.

Edward answered for me. "She's thinking about her teacher taking attendance in second grade."

"Oh."

"Why don't you tell us about yourself?" Esme suggested.

"Well, I'm Miranda. I'm 13. My older sister and I hid from the souls ever since we found out about the occupation. When Carlisle found me, I was waiting in the woods around here for her to come back. She was stealing food inside town. Carlisle found me just when I was about to find a hospital and turn myself in to the souls."

"Can I show her the room I decorated for her now?" Alice asked suddenly, jumping up from her seat on the floor.

"I don't see why not," Esme answered. "Miranda?" I nodded.

"Follow me. You'll love your new room."

**Okay, this is where the chapter really ends. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go back and reread the chapter because you obviously didn't read closely enough to notice my random note in the middle of the chapter.) And it's almost 1000 words, too!**

**Miranda is really emotionally unstable in this chapter. One minute she's almost in tears (or would be, if it were possible for vampires to cry, which it's not) over her experience with the Volturi, the next, she's yelling at Carlisle, and the next she's laughing about second grade. In her defense, she had good reason, given everything that happened in the past few chapters (oh my gosh, I am defending fictional characters. Somebody please get me help.)**

**BTW, I know she kinda hates Carlisle right now, but that will get better eventually. Mostly because I love Carlisle and I can't write about a character that hates him for too long without killing the character. (I'm not kidding. If Miranda doesn't get her act together pretty soon, James is going to resurrect just to hunt her. Oh wait, I'm the author, so I'm the one who needs to get Miranda's act together.)**

**Well, I have nothing else to say except why is it so impossible fro me to write long chapters with short notes at the end and bye-bye until Chapter 7!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Miranda

"You don't like Carlisle much." Alice said on the way up the stairs.

"Wow, someone's observant," I replied sarcastically. I mean he only changed me into a mythical creature without telling me what was going on. Feeling like you just got thrown into a fire? Not exactly a good feeling."

"We all know what it feels like to be changed. And not all of us knew what was happening, either."

"Well, that's great. But I'd heard stories about the souls. Stories about how they sometimes fought back. I was hoping that I could find my sister."

"Look, we've all lost something. Everything. But you can't hate Carlisle for it. I know for a fact that if he could change everything that happened since the souls came just so you could be human again and be with your family, he'd do it."

"You said we were coming up here to show me my room?"

"Yes! You're going to love it." She covered my eyes and opened a door. "Just walk straight ahead."

When she uncovered my eyes, I found myself in a medium sized room decorated in different shades of purple. Lavender walls with a darker purple carpet, which was the exact same shade as the curtains. A small couch to my right was a shade in between the two, with pillows that matched the walls. Opposite the couch was a TV. It was small but a flat screen. Against the wall left of the door was a wooden desk with a purple lamp sitting on it. But the best thing I noticed was the radio sitting on a side table near the couch. I walked over and saw that there was a small stack of CD's sitting next to it.

"It was Carlisle's idea to give you something that would make you more comfortable. Edward was the one who found your CD's for you."

I was confused. My CD's? I looked closer at the pile and realized that they really were mine. I looked at one of the cases and laughed, remembering how I had let my dad borrow the CD, and he put his water bottle on top of it, cracking the case.

"How did they know?"

"According to Edward, you fell asleep while you were in the woods and you were dreaming of home. One of the CD's showed up. He decided to go look for them, and sure enough, he found all of them."

"Where is he? I have to go thank him."

"Carlisle or Edward?"

"Edward. I don't really want to talk to Carlisle."

Alice sighed.

**And so we return to the land of short chapters. And, while Miranda is NOT based on myself, the story about the cracked CD case? Yeah, it actually happened to me. When I thought of the idea to put the CD's in the story, I couldn't resist putting that in there. It might seem like this has nothing to do with the rest of the story, but believe me, the CD's play a huge part. But I'm going to make you wait to find out what, exactly, that part is. The frustrating part is that I know what I want to happen, I'm just having trouble writing it into the story without cutting the chapters too short (As if they aren't already!) And so, I leave you with this somewhat odd, but important chapter. See you in chapter 8!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Carlisle

"According to Edward, you fell asleep while you were in the woods and you were dreaming of home," I heard Alice say upstairs. "One of the CD's showed up. He decided to go look for them, and sure enough, he found all of them."

"Where is he? I have to go thank him."

"Carlisle or Edward?"

"Edward. I don't really want to talk to Carlisle."

I felt horrible. All Miranda had wanted to do was find her sister. I'd heard the stories about hosts that fought back. If only I'd helped her get to a hospital instead of changing her…

Jasper must have felt my guilt, because I felt calmed instantly. "You can't change the past," he reminded me. "Once she realized that, she'll stop trying to go back."

Esme sat next to me on the couch and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "Miranda can't stay mad at you forever. Remember how Rosalie was when you first changed her? It took her a while to realize it, but she's glad you saved her."

"I just hate it that she's so miserable."

"You're welcome." I heard Edward say. "Now if you don't mind, I'm busy."

"What's his problem?" That was Miranda.

"The better question is what your problem with Carlisle is."

"You know what my problem is."

"No, I really don't. I know that you want to find your sister, but Carlisle didn't change you to hurt you. He thought you would be grateful that he saved your neck."

"Well, he thought wrong."

I heard a door opening. "Edward," I warned. "This isn't her fault. She has every reason to be upset."

"Well, it isn't yours either and she doesn't have any reason to be upset."

I sighed.

"Look, Miranda. I know becoming a vampire wasn't exactly in your plan for your life. Carlisle feels horrible, and every time you say something about him, he feels like he deserves it. And the person who least deserves your ungrateful disrespect is Carlisle."

The door slammed shut, and I buried my face in my hands.

**347 words. Why can't I write more than that? UGHHHH!**

**Oh well, I hope you like this chapter, despite the fact that it is shorter than most of the essays I write for English.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Before I start the chapter, I feel the need to say that I do **_**not **_**own House. Or Twilight, or The Host, for that matter. And, you won't understand this until you read the chapter but, I'm really not sure if the Cullens even own a recliner, but in my story they do. Because I said so.**

Chapter 9 Miranda

I avoided Carlisle for the next seven months. Even though I thought that he deserved to feel guilty, that didn't mean I wanted to see his guilt all the time. Usually, I went hunting with Alice, because she was the only one who wasn't always on my case about forgiving Carlisle. Apparently she had a vision of me not hating him, eventually. And in all this time, I still hadn't met Renesmee.

"Happy birthday!" Alice exclaimed, bursting into my room as she so often does.

"What?" I asked.

"Look!" She showed me the date on her phone – sure enough, it was my birthday, July 13th.

"Alice, I'm a statue. I don't age."

"I don't care about that; you were born 14 years ago today, so we're celebrating."

"With your family? Thanks, but no thanks."

"You know, they consider you family too. Attitude and all."

I snorted. Yeah right.

"Fine, if you don't come downstairs, we'll come to you." She ran out of the room.

"Alice, I really –" She was back, with Bella beside her, before I could finish talking.

"Miranda, meet Renesmee."

I sat up. Bella had done a good job of keeping Renesmee hidden from me. "Why is she letting me meet her now?"

"She didn't trust you as a newborn. She still doesn't trust you much now, but nothing's going to happen. I saw it. Bella?"

Bella reluctantly stepped aside, and a girl about my age stepped toward me. A human girl – I could hear her heartbeat.

"How come she gets to be human! Is this why you've kept her hidden all this time? So I wouldn't be _jealous!_ What makes you think that I wouldn't be jealous on the day that's supposed to be my birthday, but isn't because I'll never grow?"

Bella grabbed the girl's wrist to stop her advance.

"Miranda, calm down. She isn't… all human. Listen to her heart."

I did. It was beating much to fast to be human. "But… what?"

"Miranda, Renesmee is three years old." Bella told me.

I looked at her again and crossed my arms. She was very clearly a teenager.

"She was born while I was still human… and Edward was a vampire." I didn't understand why Edward being a vampire would matter, until I realized something.

"Edward is…"

Bella nodded. "Renesmee is half human, half vampire."

I was still in disbelief, even though I could hear her heartbeat. "Is that even possible?" I asked.

Renesmee walked across the room to where I sat on the couch and put her hand on my face. I gasped as her thoughts flooded my mind. She showed me her first memory- and Bella was very much a human, and Edward very much a vampire. And not a newborn one, either.

"You should come downstairs with us." She said. It's good to spend time with your family."

"They're not-" I started to say, and then stopped. They obviously weren't my human family, and I still missed them, even though my human memories were fuzzy. But over the past seven months, they'd put up with my attitude and gone out of their way to try to help me. They weren't my family, yet, but they weren't exactly _not_ my family, either. "Okay," I said, and got up.

Alice led us down the stairs and into the living room. Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper all sat on the couch. Emmett was sitting in a recliner, with Rosalie perched on the arm of the chair. Everyone else was standing around, and- "What is that smell?" I asked.

Everyone laughed except for the person that the smell was coming from."

"That's Jacob." Renesmee told me. "He's a werewolf."

That didn't really explain anything, but I decided to drop it.

"Happy birthday," Esme said, standing up. She held a box, which she handed to me. "We would have liked to get you more, but with the souls and everything, it's hard for us to get much of anything. We did manage to find this, though."

"Open it. You're going to love it," Alice said.

I pulled the wrapping paper away to find a box of DVD's – every season of House. "Edward, normally I would say to stay out of my head, but I guess I'm glad you heard me thinking about this." The other day, I had been flipping through the channels on the TV, and thinking about how the souls' TV shows were stupid – why couldn't they play House, which had been my favorite TV show, once in a while?

"Something tells me that House is not a character that the souls would sympathize with," Edward said.

"True," I agreed. I wondered what exactly the souls had thought about the doctor and his Vicodin addiction when they first saw it – if they ever did.

Vampires don't eat birthday cake, so we all went hunting together. It was kind of fun, actually – we were joking around with each other while we hunted, and I realized that I could actually have a good time with the Cullens.

Even Carlisle.


	10. Chapter 10

**I kind of just noticed that there are WAYY more Miranda chapters than Carlisle chapters. Oh, well. Here's another Miranda chapter.**

Chapter 10 Miranda

"It's kind of ironic that you love House but hate Carlisle," Alice said, coming into my room and sitting on the couch. I had started watching the DVD's as soon as we got back from hunting, and I was halfway through season 1 now.

"Number one, I don't hate Carlisle." I told her. "Anymore, at least. And number two, why would that be ironic, exactly?"

"Well, House and Carlisle are both doctors. Were, anyway. But unlike House, Carlisle is actually nice to his patients. And not addicted to Vicodin."

That was a surprise to me. Not the Vicodin part, obviously, but the fact that he was a doctor.

"Carlisle is a doctor?" I asked.

"Was," she corrected. "And yes. He loved his job. Now he can't go to work at the hospital anymore, at least, not without being discovered."

That's right. We can't tell humans what we are. "Technically, they aren't human…" I said.

Alice shook her head. "We asked the Volturi about that at the beginning of the invasion. Obviously, appearing human was not going to work in our advantage anymore. But they said that they were human enough."

"But that's not fair! The souls aren't a threat to us! Once they know that the operation won't work on us, they'll leave us alone. They aren't violent, the only reason they take over human minds is because that's how they survive."

Alice shook her head. "How would you know that?"

"I had a friend who was a soul. Her name was Wanda."

"She never turned you in?"

"Well… she was different from most souls. She lived with one of the resistance groups. But she's just naturally honest and kind. Like every other soul."

"There are resistance groups? Of humans?"

"Yeah, the one Wanda lives with is in Arizona. My sister and I lived there for a while, but she wanted to leave to find one of her friends, who she thought was human."

"And then she got captured."

I didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry," Alice said quickly. "I didn't mean-"

"No, it's okay."

"I should go tell Carlisle about the resistance groups. None of us ever thought that there were any humans left."

When she mentioned Carlisle's name, I had an idea.

**Aughhh this chapter is not even 400 words long. Why can't I write a chapter with more words than my sister has followers on Instagram? Anyway, if you like Carlisle's POV, you're in luck, because the next chapter is in – you guessed it – Carlisle's POV! Yay!**


	11. Chapter 11

**As promised, here is a Carlisle chapter! Oh, yes, and just in case it isn't obvious, I am not Loretta Lynn.**

Chapter 11 Carlisle

"… The souls' medicine is perfect, but in the caves, they don't always have access to it." Miranda told me. "Or, when they do, they don't know what is wrong with someone who is sick, because they don't have anything a hospital would have to diagnose them. But you have a century of experience, and your senses help you too. If we go to the caves, you could be a doctor again!"

We were in my study, where Miranda had spent the past half hour trying to convince us to move to Arizona, where I could be a doctor for a resistance group of humans. "I appreciate what you're trying to do for me. But it really isn't a good idea. In the desert, in Arizona, we'd never be able to hunt. And we've always been able to blend in, but we've never lived with humans permanently. Don't you think they would get suspicious if we never ate?"

"Well… I mean, I thought that we should tell them what we are."

I was shocked. "I… You know we can't do that. The Volturi would never allow it."

"We don't have to tell the Volturi. They'll never find out. How could they?"

"Trust me, they will. They always do."

"But… we'll be in Arizona! They're in Italy! We won't turn ourselves in, and they won't be able to. It's a perfect idea."

I shook my head.

"Alice told me how much you loved being a doctor. I feel bad for making you miserable for the past 7 months, and I want to make it up to you."

"You don't have to make anything up to me."

She shook her head. "No. I was wrong."

I sighed. "I'd love to be a doctor again. But I won't risk my family. The Volturi will find out, one way or another. It's just the way they work."

"How do you know how the Volturi works?"

"Because I was once a part of it."

"You… no. I won't believe it. You never could have been a part of the Volturi. You're a vampire who wants to save human lives! The Volturi are just the opposite of that!"

"Miranda, look." I pointed to the painting of the Volturi and me. She stared at me in disbelief.

"You… I trusted you, even if I only started to like you in the past few days. I can't believe this. The Volturi!"

I suddenly remembered what she had told me on her first day with us, when she ran out of the house.

"_When the souls took over, I wasn't in the woods the whole time. For a month or so, my family and I took shelter in… Italy. Volterra. The… Volturi… gave my family food and shelter. Of course, at that time we didn't know what they were, only that they were helping us, and a few of the other human families that they had taken in. One day, they brought all of us into a tower…"_

Of course she would be upset that I had once been a part of the Volturi, after her experience with them. "Miranda, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I should've-"

"Don't talk to me!" She screamed. "I trusted you! I was starting to forgive you for doing this to me! Well, that's gone now!"

She ran out of the room.

"Miranda, wait." I said.

"Don't!" She screamed back. "I said not to talk to me!"

I heard her door slam and within seconds, Loretta Lynn's now familiar voice filled the air.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hope you enjoyed the last chapter! Just in case you need reminding, I am not Stephenie Meyer, I am still not Loretta Lynn, and "Portland, Oregon" is not my song. **

Chapter 12 Miranda

The Volturi.

The Volturi.

Those two words were bouncing around in my head, and Loretta Lynn's "Portland, Oregon" did nothing to drown them out.

The Volturi.

I lived with a member of the Volturi. In frustration, I punched _the_ button to turn the radio off, almost crushing it. I pulled a pillow off the couch and began screaming into it at the memory.

_"Come along," Aro said. My sister, my best friend Nathan, and I looked up together. "We don't have all day, children."_

_ "I'm not a child! I'm 12!" I protested._

_ "Never mind, just follow me."_

_ The three of us followed Aro into a large tower, where we were joined by the other humans that the Volturi were sheltering from the souls, along with Caius, Marcus, Jane, and Alec._

Watching the memory in my head, I knew now what they were and what they were doing. Only this time, Carlisle was standing right beside the other five, his eyes blood red.

_"Nathan!" I cried, as Caius snapped his neck. _

_ "The window," my sister whispered to me._

_ I shook my head. "Nathan. We can't leave Nathan here."_

_ "He's gone," she said._

_ "No!" I shouted. "He's not! He's my only friend left, he can't die!" I was chocking on my sobs._

_ "I'm sorry." She wrapped her arms around me and jumped out the window. I landed on top of her._

_ "Becca?" I asked. "Are you okay? _

_ She handed me boarding passes for an airplane. "Hide your eyes. Get on the airplane. It will land in Port Angeles. Find Kathy there. She'll take you to La Push. There are people there. Humans."_

_ "You're coming with me, aren't you?"_

_ She shook her head._

_ "Kathy will help you. I'm almost certain she's still human…" her voice trailed off._

_ "No, Becca, not you too!"_

_ "Go. For me…"_

_ I took off.  
_ I felt like I would never stop screaming.

**Plot twist! *Insert evil laugh here***

**^^^ Please help me. I am spending my Monday off from school torturing you guys with plot twists and cliffhangers. **


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Miranda

"Carlisle isn't like that." Alice came in and sat down next to me on the couch, putting her hand on my back.

"Don't touch me." I mumbled. She moved her hand but kept talking.

"Edward saw the memory. And we all heard you screaming. Even Jasper couldn't calm you down."

"You knew. All of you. And you didn't ever tell me. I was just starting to trust you!"

"We didn't think it was important. He was never like-"

"Get out! Don't talk to me! Just leave me alone!"

I suddenly felt calmer. "Jasper, you… stop it!" I was annoyed at him, but at the same time, I couldn't be annoyed. It was really annoying.

"It's okay Jasper. She'll be fine in a week."

Yeah right.

Alice left, and I heard someone else's footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Whoever it is, I don't want to talk to you."

"Miranda please let me-"

"Especially not you, Carlisle!"

I decided, after an hour, that I had to leave. They had all lied to me. Even Alice and Esme, who I had never disliked, not really. Until now. I looked in the closet, and, for the first time, was thankful for the oversized purses that Alice had stocked one corner with. I picked it up, and then hesitated. Did I really want to bring anything that they had given to me?

Yes, I decided. They lied to me for seven months; the least they could do was let me keep the few things I had. I left the radio, since it was too big to put in my purse, but took the small CD player that I had found in the desk. I threw the CD's and the House DVD's in on top of it. I took a few outfits at random off their hangers and threw them into the bag. I didn't have much else to bring, and the purse was getting full anyway, so I left the closet. When I turned around, Alice was standing in the doorway, blocking my way out. I looked toward the window.

"We aren't the only ones who lied. You said you were looking for your sister. Your sister died in Volterra."

"Thanks for reminding me. I have more than one sister, you know."

"You're going to try to find your other sister?"

"Yes. Whether she's a soul or not. Even a soul in my sister's body would be better than a group of liars."

"And then what? If she's a soul, she'll try to turn you into one, too. If she isn't you'll have to tell her what you are, eventually."

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

"The Volturi won't like this."

The name hit me like she had punched me in the stomach. She looked at me with a smug expression.

I slapped her and jumped through the window without even bothering to open it.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Miranda

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I knew exactly where I needed to go. _Find Kathy._ I told myself. Becca had told me that Kathy would take me to La Push. Maybe, just maybe, she hadn't been captured. Maybe she just couldn't find me, and was already at La Push.

_That must have been what happened,_ I told myself. It had to be. If she really had been captured by the souls, then I would have no way of getting captured, too.

I followed Jacob's scent as far as I could go, until someone blocked my path.

"Excuse me, could you watch where you're-" I stopped when I noticed that he had the same werewolf scent as Jacob.

"This is werewolf territory. I'll give you exactly three seconds to get out."

"This is La Push?" I asked.

"Yeah. And you're a vampire. You don't belong here. I said get out."

"Wait, is my sister here? Kathy?"

"Look, I have no idea what you're talking about. You one of those Cullens?"

"No," I said.

"Yes, she is," a somewhat familiar voice said. "That's Miranda."

I realized who the voice belonged to – Seth, one of the younger werewolves. He spent a lot of time at the Cullen's house.

"She's got an attitude, but she's nice."

Nice? I couldn't ever remember being nice to him. Then again, I had never been mean. This kid was an optimist.

"You're sister's been asking for you. She thought you had gotten captured."

"She's here?"

"Doesn't matter. You're a vampire, you can't come here. And one of you is lying about her being a Cullen."

"Carlisle changed me, and I lived with the Cullens for a few months, if that's what you mean. But they lied to me."

"Lied how?" Seth asked.

"Did you know that Carlisle was a member of the Volturi?"

"Yeah. But he was never like them."

"They're all the same. Aro was supposed to me protecting us. He killed my best friend, and my sister."

"Look," Sam interrupted, "I've told you one too many times: Get out. You're already lucky – any other vampire would have been dead by now."

I snorted. Right, like he could take me. "Look, _dog_, I didn't choose to become a vampire. I'm going to meet my sister."

"Carlisle changed you against your will?"

"She was dying! He was trying to save her!"

"Maybe I didn't want to be saved."

"Seth. Go get the rest of the pack. They broke the treaty. And have been hiding it for a while, apparently."

"No way! I don't belong to your pack. Go get them yourself."

The older werewolf started shuddering.

"Let's get out of here before he phases. I'll take you to your sister."

I decided that I liked Seth.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 Carlisle

"I can't see her," Alice said.

"You don't think she went to…"

"She must have. But I can't understand why they would let her in."

"I don't either."

The entire family, except for Renesmee and Bella, was gathered in the dining room. Alice had just finished telling us how Miranda left.

"Renesmee, stay here," I heard Bella say.

"No. I'm old enough to know what's going on."

"Renesmee…" She appeared in the doorway.

"I know why they let her into La Push."

We all turned to stare at her.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You changed her. Without her permission."

It took a few seconds for what she had said to sink in, but then it hit us: We had been warned. It was okay for us to change people, but they had to give their permission first. And even I was not allowed on La Push anymore.

Alice buried her face into Jaspers chest, and he wrapped his arm around her. Esme took my hand. Edward stood protectively in front of Bella and Renesmee.

Rosalie jumped up. "I told you this was a bad idea! You couldn't just leave her, no, she had to be a vampire too. Now she's going to kill us all!" She stormed off.

"Rose, wait!" Emmett chased after her.

"What are we going to do?" Esme asked me.

"See if we can get them to listen to us."

"And if they don't?" Bella asked.

"They won't touch you," Edward said. Just then, we heard the wolves.

"I'm going to go out first. Edward will tell you if I need help."

Esme tightened her grip on my hand. "Don't-"

"I'll clear it up, I promise. And if I can't Edward will know." I was outside before they could protest.

"Please, I don't want a fight," I said as soon as the wolves could hear. "Just let me explain."

"I never wanted to be a vampire, Carlisle!" Miranda shouted from the middle of the pack. "There's nothing to explain!"

"You know I would change you back if I could."

"Why should I trust you? I trusted Aro, and look at how far that got me!"

"I'm –" I never got to finish my sentence, because right then, the wolves charged forward.


	16. Chapter 16

**I guess I should probably tell you that I sort of have an idea of where I want the story to go, but a lot of it, I'm just writing as I go along. So there will probably be lots of random plat twists (that last chapter, anybody?) that I really don't plan at all. It's just the way I write.**

Chapter 16 Miranda

"I'm –" Carlisle started to say. I didn't give him the chance to apologize yet again. I gave the wolf closest to me the signal to attack.

And regretted it about two seconds later.

When the wolves started moving toward Carlisle, he didn't try to fight, like Aro or Caius would have. He was nothing like the Volturi that I knew. Instead, his face seemed to say, "I deserve this."

But he didn't. I was just a bratty teenager, and Carlisle was going to die because of it.

"Stop!" I cried. The wolves looked at me, confusion written on their faces. "I'm just a spoiled teenager. I'm still upset that I'm not allowed to see my sister. But it's my own fault for wandering in the forest without a jacket in the middle of winter. He was only trying to save me."

The biggest wolf, whose name I had learned was Sam, ran off and came back human. "You'd better make up your mind. Did Carlisle change you without your permission?"

"Yes," I said. "No. I mean-"

"It's a simple question. Yes. Or. No."

"I… he didn't have my permission. But he shouldn't – I don't want-"

"The agreement was clear. If a human is changed without having given permission to whoever changed them, we would kill them."

"I only told you about me because I was angry at Carlisle, angry that he had been a part of the Volturi. But he isn't even fighting back! I made a mistake."

Sam looked angry at me, but he didn't tell the wolves to attack again. "I'll let you go," he said to Carlisle eventually, "on one condition."

"Which is?"

"You go to Arizona, to the resistance group Miranda told you about. Go, and don't come back."

"We'll do it."

"You have until sunrise tomorrow to be off this land."

"Thank you."

The wolves left, and soon it was only me and Carlisle outside. I turned away from him, ashamed. "I can't believe I did this to you." I heard his footsteps coming toward me, and I cringed. To my surprise, he gently put his hand on my shoulder.

"I don't blame you. Edward told us about your memory."

"You're forgiving me?" I asked.

"I was never angry at you. I was angrier at myself, for changing you. I really thought it was the best thing to do."

"I'm kind of glad you did, now. If I had let myself be captured, I might not have been able to fight against the soul. And my sister is human anyway. I wouldn't have found her." I suddenly remembered my bag, which was back at my sister's house. "My bag! Do you think they'll let me go get it?"

"Probably not. They're pretty upset right now."

"I had my CD's in there. And my DVD's. I never really did thank you for that."

"For the CD's?"

"For everything. Alice said you thought of me as your family, even when I thought of you as anything but."

"We all lost our families when we were changed. It's what makes us so close, though."

"I think I can consider you my family. That is, if the others don't hate me for what almost just happened."

"Rosalie might be… difficult. But aside from her, we all understood you."

"I wish this never happened." Carlisle pulled me into a hug.

"It's okay. We're all alive. And I guess it looks like we'll be helping your friends in Arizona after all."

**I hope I didn't scare you too much with that last chapter. But don't worry; I love Carlisle too much to kill him off. Sam may not survive to the end of this fanfic, though, just saying. (Sorry if you like him.)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Gosh, it's been a month since I updated last. I've actually had it sitting on my flash drive, but I don't use my computer very often, so I haven't had a chance to upload it. Sorry about that. Right now I'm also working on two other stories, but I'm not going to post them until I finish this one.**

Chapter 17 Miranda

"What is _she_ doing back here?" Rosalie demanded as soon as we walked in. I stepped sideways so I was half hidden behind Carlisle

"She is a part of this family," Carlisle said calmly.

"_Family?_ Did you forget the past hour?"

Instead of answering, he said, "We're leaving for Arizona. We have until sunrise."

"And what, exactly, do you expect us to do in Arizona?"

"We're going to one of the human resistance groups. They need a doctor. As for hunting, we'll figure something out."

"The Volturi? This is all her fault."

"Rosalie," Esme warned. Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Pack up and meet in the garage."

We all jumped into action then, packing everything we had into suitcases to bring to the cars. Since I had left my bag at La Push, I was the first one ready, and the only one who noticed the knocking at the door. I cautiously opened the door, only partway.

"It's me," Seth said. "I have your purse. What's going on?"

"We're leaving."

"Leaving? What about Jacob?"

"I don't know."

"You can't leave! What about-"

"We have to. We're not allowed to be here after sunrise."

"Says who?

"Says the wolves. It was their condition for letting Carlisle go."

"Letting – what?"

I suddenly remembered that Seth had left the main pack to stay with Jacob, so he didn't know about what I had almost done. "I told them that Carlisle changed me without my permission. I was angry and… I wish I hadn't done it."

"Where are you going?"

"Arizona. There's a resistance group of humans there."

"How do you get there?"

I suddenly realized what Seth was planning. "Seth, you can't follow us. What if someone finds you? A soul?"

"I heal fast," he mumbled.

"No." I insisted. "You still have your family. Go home to them."

"Jacob is going with you. Because of Renesmee. He's my pack leader; I'm going with him."

Alice came down the stairs then. "Is there a wolf here? I can't see- hi, Seth."

"You can't leave without Jacob. And if Jacob is going, so am I. I don't want to go back to Sam's pack."

Alice looked at me. "I kind of told him we were going to Arizona. Was that a bad idea?"

"It would have been a lot easier to leave if they didn't know, yes. But I guess there's going to be no convincing them to stay now."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize. I just need to tell Esme that we'll need room for two extra people." She ran off in the direction of the garage. Seth looked at me with a smug expression.

"You remind me of my friend Nathan," I said suddenly. I didn't know where that came from – I hadn't really talked about him since I left Italy.

"Nathan?"

"He was-" I realized that Seth didn't know the details about my encounter with the Volturi, so I changed what I was going to say. "Captured," I lied. "By the souls."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Alice came in then, with Esme right behind her. "If you want to get Jacob now," Esme said, "We're almost ready to leave. Meet us in the garage, okay?"

"Sure thing, Mrs. Cullen." Seth left and Alice led me to the garage. All the bags were in the Jeep already.

"Miranda, we're going to have you ride with Bella, Edward, Renesmee, and I in the Mercedes, since you're the only one who knows how to get to the resistance. Emmett can drive with Seth, Jacob, and Esme in the Jeep. Alice, drive Rosalie and Jasper in your Porsche. We'll have to leave Rosalie's car here. Is everybody ready?"

Seth came in with Jacob just then. "You two will be riding with us," Esme said, walking toward the Jeep.

"All right. We just have a couple of bags."

Jacob fit them easily in the back of the Jeep and we drove out of the garage.


End file.
